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Jere Gettle

I've got a few problems with these poor little sprouts. On some of them their first leaves were eaten by something, then apparently the parts that were below ground were eaten. I pulled them up because they looked like they weren't going to make it and sure enough, something had bored its way inside the plant or poked little holes along the stem, but only underground. The ones that were left untouched by whatever this was are also getting plenty of holes eaten in the leaves. What can I do to fix these issues and protect my plants?

Have you noticed roly polys in the neighborhood? They ripped through my bush beans last year. Every little seedling that popped up they decimated.

Two suggestions that helped. First is instead of direct planting your beans, plant them in pots or flats, and then transplant them after they get a few sets of leaves on them. At least you won't have them being eaten as they come up.

Second, is that roly polys, like slugs, love beer. Put out shallow containers of cheap beer late in the afternoon, the roly polys will have a party overnight, and the next morning you will be rid of a goodly number of your chompers. Keep doing it until you significantly reduce your bug population. And don't waste good beer on these guys. They'll die happy with the cheap stuff.

I've been killing slugs as I find them, in this weather they're always out for a stroll and nibbling on just about anything. I can never get the beer trick to work on them!

I put some of the mauled plants in a container for further observation and a few tiny little bugs have since come out of one of them. The smallest ones are about two millimeters long, the biggest are twice that. They sort of resemble earwigs but not as fat and more flexible. I wonder if they just moved in and didn't actually cause any damage.

Pill bugs (roly polys) might nibble but they don't usually poke holes or bore into the stem. Pill bugs may eat a few plants occasionally, but they are like earthworms; they're really beneficial for your garden. Something boring into your plant stem sounds like some kind of larvae to me.

Did you plant beans in the same spot last year?

You can protect the beans from getting eaten above ground with row crop covers. For small gardens, tulle (the stuff they sell at fabric stores for brida veils) will work. Just lay it over the top of your plants with some 'give' and secure it down. It is lightweight and the beans will push it up as they grow.

To protect your beans underground, you can cut the top and bottom out of an aluminum can, press it half way into the soil and plant in that. When the plant gets bigger, you can remove the can by cutting it down the side if you want to.

Rosie, normally I would bow to your greater experience, but last year my garden was swarmed with these pests. I WATCHED them eat through my beans, and then take down the squash seedlings by munching their way through the base of the stems at dirt level. One they toppled the stem, then they'd eat the rest of the plant. There would be so many of them that there would be a whole pack of them eating - you'd of thought I opened a roly poly diner. I was killing 50+ roly polys per beer station per evening, and was still having difficulties. Maybe if there are only a handful they aren't a problem, but when you hit a certain number - I promise that they are quite destructive.

I've got a few problems with these poor little sprouts. On some of them their first leaves were eaten by something, then apparently the parts that were below ground were eaten. I pulled them up because they looked like they weren't going to make it and sure enough, something had bored its way inside the plant or poked little holes along the stem, but only underground. The ones that were left untouched by whatever this was are also getting plenty of holes eaten in the leaves. What can I do to fix these issues and protect my plants?

RR.. did you ever figure this one out? And are you sure it's being eaten? Could it be the beans are just sprouting that way?

Take a look at the ones in the attachments.. do they look anything like that? I swear these opened up that way. I haven't seen any bugs at all around these.. not to say it couldn't of been bugs, cause i wasn't there the exact moment the cotyleons spread apart. But, maybe it was just one of those things... i see these every once in a while and it seems some varietys they'll all be like that whereas there will be hundreds of other varieties all around em.. all planted at the same time in the same type of soil.. and all other conditions the same. What i attribute it too is just old seed.

I'm thinking what you see as eaten roots.. i'd attribute to it just dying. I can promise you if i pull these out the roots will be brown and appear to be shiveled up.
Dave

Rosie, normally I would bow to your greater experience, but last year my garden was swarmed with these pests. I WATCHED them eat through my beans, and then take down the squash seedlings by munching their way through the base of the stems at dirt level. One they toppled the stem, then they'd eat the rest of the plant. There would be so many of them that there would be a whole pack of them eating - you'd of thought I opened a roly poly diner. I was killing 50+ roly polys per beer station per evening, and was still having difficulties. Maybe if there are only a handful they aren't a problem, but when you hit a certain number - I promise that they are quite destructive.

Dad gum nasty little critters.....

Maggie, I bow to your experience with pill bugs. Mine are pretty well behaved, but that doesn't mean they won't turn on me one of these days.

I had a good chuckle over your 'Roly Poly diner and your beer station. If mine start to attack, at least now I know how to subdue them.